chickens.

[sargie]

Well they woke me up at 6am this morning fighting with the small one again so i opened the coop door to let them out in the run. The kids have just gone out to let them out in the garden so i checked the nests and to my suprise an egg! A massive one as well still warm.

Heres some pictures one of the chickens is full feathered, another is quite welll feathered and then one is pretty bald.

 

[srgberian]

So its all round to sargie's for egg on toast

 

[sargie]

Didnt expect an egg straight away.

Im having problems at the moment though with the dominant hen she relentlessly picks on the small one she wont let it get near the food or water. When in the coop the little one is up in the coop and the other 2 are in the run. As soon as the little one trys to come down for food or water she is straight on it pecking away. The little one is scared to death i dunno what to do?

 

[sargie]

2 eggs today Ive decided to let the bigger 2 out to free range and kept the bullied one in the coop were she can get to food and water without being pecked. The other 2 can still see and smell her. I then hope that once she has grown and gained back her feathers they wont see her as an easy target. I think at the moment it's a case of picking on the weak one. They are ok when its night time they all go to roost together without any issues it's mainly over food that they fight.

The other too have food and water provided for them out of the coop but near it. If things don't get better this way i may get a bottle of the stop pecking stuff to help.

 

[srgberian]

Didnt expect an egg straight away.

Im having problems at the moment though with the dominant hen she relentlessly picks on the small one she wont let it get near the food or water. When in the coop the little one is up in the coop and the other 2 are in the run. As soon as the little one trys to come down for food or water she is straight on it pecking away. The little one is scared to death i dunno what to do?

you can go into the coop with all the chickens every time the others start to peck the other 1 shoo them away and keep doing this it will show the other that your inchage and they will start to leave the other alone,takes awhile but does work,2nd u can segregate them off so they can see each other but cant attack .

 

[Penners]

How the chicks Sargie have they settled down now ?

 

[sargie]

How the chicks Sargie have they settled down now ?

No m8 the little one still screams but she does it even if the chickens go near her. I think she is just scared of other chickens at this point. The other 2 lay an egg each a day i had 2 on toast yesterday and they are so much nicer, the yolks are huge compared to commercial eggs. They are all eating and drinking fine im using dodson and horell layers pellets which are gm free and suitable for veggys, apple cider vinegar in their water and they seem to be doing well on it.

The little one is feathering up nicely already im still separating them during the day to try and help the little one recover without being bullied too much. Weird thing is they all sleep in the coop at night with no issues lol.

They do make great pets it's fun to watch them endlessly scratch about looking for bugs and taking mud baths. Although they are very good at destroying your garden lol.

 

[Penners]

No m8 the little one still screams but she does it even if the chickens go near her. I think she is just scared of other chickens at this point. The other 2 lay an egg each a day i had 2 on toast yesterday and they are so much nicer, the yolks are huge compared to commercial eggs. They are all eating and drinking fine im using dodson and horell layers pellets which are gm free and suitable for veggys, apple cider vinegar in their water and they seem to be doing well on it.

The little one is feathering up nicely already im still separating them during the day to try and help the little one recover without being bullied too much. Weird thing is they all sleep in the coop at night with no issues lol.

They do make great pets it's fun to watch them endlessly scratch about looking for bugs and taking mud baths. Although they are very good at destroying your garden lol.

Sorry to hear about the smaller chick m8 by the sounds of it you’re doing everything right. Chickens have a habit of finding the weakest in the group and picking on it. However this should stop soon especially when it gets all its feathers back. I had to separate Donald(Drake) from the chicks as they were picking on him daily. He developed a limp so he and Daisy are in their own area at the moment and loving it lol they can still see the chicks so when he gets bigger I’ll put them back in. They'll certainly think twice when he's at full weight lol.

 

[sargie]

Sorry to hear about the smaller chick m8 by the sounds of it you’re doing everything right. Chickens have a habit of finding the weakest in the group and picking on it. However this should stop soon especially when it gets all its feathers back. I had to separate Donald(Drake) from the chicks as they were picking on him daily. He developed a limp so he and Daisy are in their own area at the moment and loving it lol they can still see the chicks so when he gets bigger I’ll put them back in. They'll certainly think twice when he's at full weight lol.

Yeah it's just a bit of a ball ache at the moment as they start fighting at 6am and i have to get up and seperate them. 2 can free range one is stuck in the coop if i let the little one out it's very hard tto get her back in as she is so frightened. I just hope that in another week or 2 it's stopped or i might have to think of getting rid of the weaker one as im sure im going to get complaints about the noise.

 

[Penners]

Yeah it's just a bit of a ball ache at the moment as they start fighting at 6am and i have to get up and seperate them. 2 can free range one is stuck in the coop if i let the little one out it's very hard tto get her back in as she is so frightened. I just hope that in another week or 2 it's stopped or i might have to think of getting rid of the weaker one as im sure im going to get complaints about the noise.

Are you shutting the coop door on a night? I leave my coop door open all the time, basically as soon as the sun is up the chickens are out and about in the run.

I suspect your chooks are waking up earlier than 6am and getting bored waiting to go outside. This is most likely when they are pecking out of frustration and the little one will have no way to get out of their way.

It may help although I still think with her being the weakest of the 3 she’s always going to be at the bottom of the pecking order, so she will always get pecked from time to time.

 

[Penners]

I've just had another look at the pic of the combined coop and run you purchased. If possible could you create a larger enclosed run and have the coop within the run and then you can leave the coop and inner run door open? This will allow the chicks to find their own space etc or more importantly allow the weakest to get out of the way of the other 2.

 

[sargie]

I've just had another look at the pic of the combined coop and run you purchased. If possible could you create a larger enclosed run and have the coop within the run and then you can leave the coop and inner run door open? This will allow the chicks to find their own space etc or more importantly allow the weakest to get out of the way of the other 2.

Done this today built a run from some old timber and some chicken wire, put the coop inside and let the chickens out the big two still attack the small one relentlessly. I think im going to have to get rid of the small one. It's not just pecking order stuff it's pure bullying the boss hen starts and the other then copys. The screaming is so loud and it starts at 6am. The only way to stop it is to seperate the small one from the big 2. I even went out yesterday and bought anti pecking sprey, you can see it bothers the hens when they peck her but it doesnt stop them.

 

[Penners]

Done this today built a run from some old timber and some chicken wire, put the coop inside and let the chickens out the big two still attack the small one relentlessly. I think im going to have to get rid of the small one. It's not just pecking order stuff it's pure bullying the boss hen starts and the other then copys. The screaming is so loud and it starts at 6am. The only way to stop it is to seperate the small one from the big 2. I even went out yesterday and bought anti pecking sprey, you can see it bothers the hens when they peck her but it doesnt stop them.

That’s a real shame mate, only suggestion I can think of is permanently separate the little one until she feathers up. However this is not practical in your scenario and you would need a separate coop / run.

I can understand you wanting to get rid of the small one unfortunately this maybe your only option. As you say it’s not just you it’s the neighbours you have to consider as well.

The very last option I can think of, although I've never tried BUT I do think they look cool lol is chicken glasses. I know your probably thinking WTF but they can be very effective (so I 've read)

Everytime I see chickens with these on they just make me chuckle lol

(I've tried to upload a image of them but its failing for some reason)

 

[sargie]

That’s a real shame mate, only suggestion I can think of is permanently separate the little one until she feathers up. However this is not practical in your scenario and you would need a separate coop / run.

I can understand you wanting to get rid of the small one unfortunately this maybe your only option. As you say it’s not just you it’s the neighbours you have to consider as well.

The very last option I can think of, although I've never tried BUT I do think they look cool lol is chicken glasses. I know your probably thinking WTF but they can be very effective (so I 've read)

Everytime I see chickens with these on they just make me chuckle lol

(I've tried to upload a image of them but its failing for some reason)

LOL at the glasses. It does say that they will fight if they see red or blood which is probably why they attack the small one as it is bare and they do make it bleed. I have seen some spray that has a brown colour to it for that reason i may give it a try. They had me up at 5am this morning and i am really at the end of my tether with them now.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin.]

Bet the neighbours love you lol
Hope you get the little chick sorted mate.

 

[Penners]

LOL at the glasses. It does say that they will fight if they see red or blood which is probably why they attack the small one as it is bare and they do make it bleed. I have seen some spray that has a brown colour to it for that reason i may give it a try. They had me up at 5am this morning and i am really at the end of my tether with them now.

I think you should just buy the glasses for comedy reasons lol The spray sounds good though maybe you could completely lather the chicken.

Which ever method you try mate I really hope it works out for you as the ISA's are usually quiet chicks so once it settles down you'll hardly hear a peep from them.

 

[sargie]

Well ive still got the same issues the spray i got did zip, ive ordered some more stuff nettex anti peck spray. According to forums its putrid stuff in taste and smell and does work well and after about a week of use it breaks thee habbit of the bully chicken. On another note when we got the chickens onee of them had a bit of a wheeze i put it down to stress. She then developed a cough and a sneeze which gradualy got worse did some research and found out it was possibly gape worm.

So i started a course of flubenvet and wow that stuff is brilliant after 2 days she was noticably better no wheeze and slight sneezing. 4 days on and she is cured. 3 days left of the treatment but brilliant stuff.

 

[sargie]

Spray turned up today i didn't get nettex in the end i got SCARPER! My god it stinks! cross between an ashtray and burnt hair with some puke thrown in for good measure. I was sceptical as i had tried the johnsons stuff with bitrex in which did nothing. This stuff however stopped the bully hen dead in 3 or 4 pecks! They are all in the coop together now and the bully hen wont touch the little one. It's early days yet but i reckon this is going to stop the problem completely.

Man ive had a rough ride with this chicken lark lol hopefully it will be plain sailing from here.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin.]

Neighbours must be glad, maybe they will get some sleep now lol

 

[sargie]

Neighbours must be glad, maybe they will get some sleep now lol

Neighbours aint complained once infact they asked yesterday how we were getting on with the chickens. If they start making a racket i get straight out and split em up.